Anyone want to hook me up??

By Anonymous · July 17, 2001

Anyone want to hook me up??
I'll first mention that the first time I saw a
suspension was (of course) the movie "A Man Called Horse." I was around 13 yrs
old when I saw the movie and I found it amazing. I wanted to know more about
it, but there wasn't any place that I could find more information.
Fast
forward to 1999, when I finally got the Internet on my computer.
I had
been in the BME chatroom and someone mentioned "fleshhooks" and I hadn't a
clue what they were, until (as my usual nature), I tried to help the person
out by searching the Net. What I found was the beginning of my curiosity and a
path to insight.
I found a few websites that showed pictures of people
doing pulls and suspensions. And one website even went into detail about the
various types of suspensions and the after effects on the skin of doing a
suspension or a pull (rice crispie type of effect that happens when air gets
under the skin from having the hooks put into the skin). All these things
fascinated me and I knew that I wanted to learn more. I continued to look more
and more on the net for more information about suspensions and pulls, however,
there was one thing missing from many of the sites: a personal experience that
told how the person felt instead of just giving the details of how they got
suspended. It was like a puzzle with the last piece missing.
I was able to
see a group called Whacks perform suspensions and pullings while they were at
the 1999 and 2000 "Inkin The Valley" tattoo/piercing convention. I made extra
certain that I was in the front by the stage to get as good a view as
possible, and I made a point to talk to the Whacks crew. I had many questions,
and they did their best to answer them.
Well, after a long time of
searching (and a lot of hoping that I would be able to experience a suspension
or a pull), I finally had the chance to do a pull.
BME was having a BME
BBQ on July 1st, 2000. I hoped that I would be able to go, but there were many
things that could stop me: I'd need a ride, and I'd need to save up some money
to go (which is difficult when you have other bills to take care of).
I
posted on one of the IAM forums that I would need a ride, and I got a response
from Zippo that he wouldn't mind taking me to the BBQ since he had extra room
in his car. Things slowly started to fit into place, and I went with Zippo and
Mars up to Toronto. I also found out that Zippo wanted to do a pull as well (I
would have liked to do a suspension, but because this would be my first time
doing a pull/suspension, and the fact that the I Was Cured Team felt more
comfortable with having suspensions done by people that had already done one,
I was comfortable with doing a pull for my first item).
The trip to
Toronto went smooth: Zippo and Mars took turns driving ( I would have driven,
but I was really nervous about driving Zippo's car: It's one thing to drive
your own car, but completely different to drive someone else's car -
especially since this was the first time I had met Zippo and Mars and I'm not
comfortable with long distance driving (I've done it before but with my own
car and by myself- so if anything went wrong, I would be responsible for
myself and not anyone else- and even that was stressful for me). Mars had
already known Zippo for a while and was definitely more comfortable with
driving Zippo's car.
Moving right along. When we got to Toronto, we went
and had a bite to eat, and then Mars had a tattoo appointment. We all went
there and then from there I decided I would walk to my appointment to get my
tongue pierced.
I asked for directions to where I was going, and although
I was told I should take the bus, I decided to walk to my destination. Aren't
I just the stubborn one, or am I one that would worry too much about doing new
things? You'll see the answer in a while.
While I was walking, it was very
hot and sunny, and there were a few time that I got lost and went in circles.
I guess you could say that most of my life has been: getting lost in trival
things when I could have done them easier.
In any case, I finally got to
my piercing appointment, got pierced, got lost again, and finally got back to
the tattoo shop where Mars was getting a tattoo. I waited there with Zippo
while Mars got the rest of her tattoo done(I didnt want to get lost again). I
didnt notice it at the time, but because I had walked so much in the hot sun,
I ended up with a sunburn the shape of my tanktop.
That night, we went to
Rancho Relaxo and met up with other BME ppl. There were a lot of ppl drinking
and having a good time(Im glad that I got a chance to get to Rancho Relaxo: I
became more familiar with those I'd see at the BBQ the next day). Since I had
a newly pierced tongue, I only had one drink: a strawberry daquari. I didnt
have any more alcoholic drinks not only because of my tongue, but because I
didnt want to take any chances and have too much - and end up not being able
to do a pull the next day.
Phil came over and checked out my tongue and he
said it was doing fine.(I had even brought my mouthwash to the resturant to be
on the safe side)
The next day, I made a point of sticking with other
people when they would go walking so that I wouldnt get lost and miss out on
my opportunity to pull.
The time came to go to Shannon's house. Sinsect
and myself walked there and I asked Sinsect if we could stop for a bite to eat
(Orbax had told me on his forum that it is a good idea to eat before doing a
pull.) Since I still couldnt eat solid food because of the newly pierced
tongue, I decided to have soup. I think that I might have made Sincect a
little ill while watching me eat soup: I couldnt think of anything else to
cool down the soup, so I put Sprite in it and it made the soup turn all bubbly
like a witch's cauldron.(that is me again: I have a bit of unusual enginuity).
Anyways, we finally got to Shannon's house and I met a lot of interesting
people.
I happened to meet up with Orbax, and he told me that although I
wanted to do a suspension, that a pull would be a good way to start off. Orbax
made me feel good about not being able to do a suspension.
I met up with
Phil, and although he wasnt the piercer that did my tongue, he wanted to make
sure I was OK (especially since I had it pierced at 8 gague and my tongue was
still swollen)
I was at the BBQ a few minutes and I decided I had better
get more soup, so I walked back to the sub shop and got more soup. When I
returned, I met up with Kilean (he mentioned on one of the forums I frequented
that he would be willing to do the pull with me), and he asked if I wouldnt
mind doing my pull with Grazer. I told him I didnt mind. (as I found out
later, Kilean had a lot more things planned to do that night.)
As soon as
I started eating one of the soups I had bought, Kilean told me that Grazer and
myself were up next to do a pull. I quickly finished my soup and went inside
Shannon's house to get "hooked."
Inside was Martini and he was the one
that was going to put the hooks into me. I was worried about getting the hooks
in and how much pain I'd have from having them inserted. Martini asked how I
wanted to do this, and I told him to do it just like a regular piercing: take
a deep breath and when he was ready to pierce my back, I'd exhale. As luck (or
fate) would have it, the sunburn I had gotten the day before I could feel more
than the hooks going into me. Martini did a great job of making the hooks go
in without a problem.
After the hooks were in, it felt a little odd. I
liked the feeling of the hooks in my back: it was a great feeling being able
to move and having those hooks move from side to side. I was concerned about
my hair though because I have long hair and I didnt want my hair to touch the
area where the hooks were inserted. I decided to roll up my hair and wrap it
around the tie of my skullcap. With hair out of the way, I proceeded to go
outside and get to the area where we were supposed to pull. Phil was there and
he was ready with the cord.
Phil asked me to have my back face Grazer's
back so that the cord could be connected to the hooks. After the cord was
attached to the hooks, Phil had me step slowly forward. Grazer had a coach
too, but I dont remember his name, and he was giving the same instructions to
Grazer as Phil was to me.
Phil then had me lean forward and then back (
and all this time Phil is making sure that I dont lose my balance and making
sure that if i didnt feel good, that we would stop). I even leaned more
forward and was suspended just by the cord connected to Grazer, and then
Grazer had his turn. We then started leaning back and forth a lot of times (I
guess the next set of ppl to pull weren't ready yet, so we had extra time to
do our pull) In any case, while we are doing our pull, TLC was there and was
recording it.
I felt so good doing the pull, that I was starting to make
bad puns like "hang around a bit", or "I got into this hook, line, and
sinker", and many other bad puns. I felt so much at ease that words cannot
fully express the feeling I was getting from doing the pull. And, since Grazer
and myself were doing fine, we continued for a good amount of time pulling.
One person wanted to shake my hand while I was pulling, but I didnt want to
take the chance of losing my balance so I told the person to wait until I was
done with the pull.
When the pull was done, Phil had me move back a bit so
that the cord could be removed. When that was done, we went back into the
house and had the hooks removed and the air pressed out of the holes left from
the hooks. My left hook holes took a bit longer to seal up, but nonetheless
they were OK: they just needed a bandage over them to make sure I didnt have
any more blood come out.
After that, I spent the rest on the night hanging
out at the BBQ. I enjoyed the BBQ lots and I noticed something was going on
with me: a new feeling was coming over me( I didnt say anything to anyone
about it until I got home and back on IAM).
At the BBQ, I started noticing
that I was feeling more at ease and that I was able to be more outgoing. I
thought that it might have been the beer that I had after the pull, but it
wasnt. After the BBQ, I decided to go back to where I was staying.
When I
returned to Global Backpackers ( the place that Zippo, Mars, Sinsect, and
myself were staying), I felt like I couldnt go directly to bed, so I stayed up
a bit and posted an entry on my IAM page. After that, I finally went to bed.
And the next day, we left to go home.
When Zippo dropped me off at my
house, it was around 915 pm, and if I was going to go to work, I had to be
there by 10pm. My boss had already told me that if I needed the night off,
that all I had to do was call and let him know. I was so filled with energy
that I decided to go into work.
While at work, I noticed that I was
becoming more outspoken to the other employees. If someone did something I
didnt like, I made a point of being very blunt about it. And it shocked them
because that isnt normally my nature. And when it came to problems with the
machine, or with people trying to give me a hard time, it was as if they
couldnt even stop me. That too, also shocked the people at work because
usually I would get irritated that the machine wouldnt be working right.
Nothing that the machine or the people could do would irritate me and believe
me, they did try to do their best to push me- but still, I couldnt be
bothered. My coworkers noticed this and they told me that the changes that
happened to me were for the better.
I also noticed that I was more
outgoing with talking to women. This was a major problem for me because of the
overwhelming times that rejection has happened. Now, if I get rejected, it
doesnt phase me.
Now, to explain a slight portion of what I have felt
anymore since doing the pull. Have you ever seen an eagle soar above the earth
with not a care in the world? And did you ever want to be a bird: being able
to soar above everything? Well, I have achieved that to a certain aspect. You
see, since the pull, I have realized that all the problems and worries that I
have had are like the earth and I am like the eagle: able to soar above those
things that would have brought me down. And, if anything in my daily life
tries to bring me down, I close my eyes, remember the pull, and remember the
feeling of flight that I had, and all those things that normally would have
bothered me seem trivial. To say that I have been "enlightened" might be the
appropriate term. What I know for certain is that my outlook on things has
drastically changed for the better and I feel a lot better about things than I
used to.
And...the pull has given me a better sense of direction, so to
speak. Instead of letting my life run in circles and getting lost in the day
to day problems that life constantly tries to dish out, I dont anymore. Just
as I kept getting lost in Toronto, my life was basically following that path.
Now, it seems that Im getting a clearer perspecive on things and I dont lose
track of what is really important.
I have decided on a tattoo to
comemerate me doing a pull, and what it has done for me. I hope to get the
tattoo before the end of the year ( and I'll get it done as soon as I get all
my other obligations taken care of).
And, just like piercing/tats/mods,
pulls and suspensions are highly addictive: I would like to do more and more
pulls and hopefully get opportunities to do suspensions. One type of
suspension that I am highly interested in is the Superman Suspension. That
entails laying face down and being hooked up all on your back and extremeties.
That would be the best suspension I could look forward to: it would be a
complete suspension that would allow me to "soar" just like an eagle. Even if
I dont get to do a Superman Suspension, I still want to do the different types
of suspensions: if the feeling is anything like what you get from doing a
pull, I am DEFINITELY up for it.
And now I would like to thank a bunch of
people.
First, I'd like to thank Shannon for his dedication to BME and his
willingness to have BBQs at his place. Without him, not only wouldn't there be
a BME website, but there would have never been an opportunity for me to do a
pull.
I would also like to thank the I Was Cured Team (Phil, Martini,
Orbax, Kilean, and others that I cannot remember your names). Not only did
they allow me to do a pull, but they are the best bunch of people you could
meet. I felt totally comfortable with them and they made the experience one I
definitely will not forget. A special note of thanks goes to Phil. Not only
was he my pulling coach, but he was EVERYWHERE! When you least expected it,
Phil was right there making sure that everything was running smooth, and he
still had time to make sure my tongue was doing well, and check on the other
people that were doing pulls and suspensions.
And I would like to thank
Grazer, for being my pull partner. After the pull, we have become friends and
we have also been comparing notes about the experience. (I also have a IAM
forum for comparing notes about suspensions/pulls just in case anyone would
like to add their experience)
And for those that would like to do a
suspension or a pull, I highly recommend it. I felt a great release from all
the negative things in my life and I think the same will happen to you too.
Good luck!

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